Change of Heart
by Cas di Angelo
Summary: Lily Evans has been getting beautiful little drawings of lilies-but from who? And what will she do when she finds out who's been giving them?


**This is my first ever James/Lily fic, and I was super excited to get it done! I've actually not done any stories from the previous generation, so it was fun to explore the characters. This is based on an actual fact that I read on tumblr, that James was drawing lilies for Lily, and that her opinion of him changed after that. When I read that I just had to write this. Enjoy, and reviews are appreciated!**

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><p>One November night just three weeks before Christmas holidays, Lily Evans trudged up to her dormitory. She couldn't wait to get to sleep after a particularly exhausting Hogsmeade trip. There was already a thick layer of snow over the village, and she was grateful the dormitories were so warm.<p>

She was just about to flop face-first onto her pillow when she remembered to check under it. Almost since the beginning of her seventh year, Lily had found little scraps of parchment under her pillow. On each and every piece was a drawing of a lily that opened and closed its' petals when held up to the light. She thought they were quite beautiful, never mind the spell needed was extremely complicated and very hard to master.

Sure enough, Lily found another drawing. She smiled at it, sitting on her bed and watching as the petals moved in the light of her bedside candle. It was a mystery as to who was giving her the drawings, but she loved each and every one of them—who could possibly have dedicated their time to learning the spell just to impress her? Whoever was doing it, she had an entire shoebox full of them; when she went home for Christmas she planned on covering a journal with them.

"Lily, James and his friends got some butterbeer," said Mary at the door. "Do you want to come down?"

Lily's first instinct was to decline; she was tired and wanted to go to bed. However, she could hear laughter from the common room, and the draw was almost too much. She felt like laughing and smiling with her friends, even if Arrogant Potter was there. Tucking the drawing back under her pillow, she followed Mary down the stairs.

The common room was packed with Gryffindors, and there was a large pile of food and drink on one of the tables. There was not only butterbeer, but there were also boxes of chocolate frogs, sugar quills, Every Flavour Beans, Licorice wands, pumpkin pasties, and a lot of other sweets that could have only come from Honeydukes.

Mary passed Lily a pumpkin pasty and led her to one of the couches that was already full of students. Lily (to her slight displeasure) was seated next to Arrogant Potter himself, who looked very pleased with this arrangement.

"Enjoying yourself, Evans?" he asked, casually throwing an arm behind her shoulders.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'd be better if you weren't next to me, Potter," she said.

"Ah, well I was here first, so you'll just have to deal with it."

Lily turned her head away and proceeded to ignore him, talking to Mary about their day in Hogsmeade. She was deeply immersed in the conversation when she caught a snippet of the conversation Remus was having with a fifth year student.

"…James did it, he's the best one at the spell."

Lily twisted on the couch to spy on what Remus was talking about. He was holding a sheet of parchment that had a roaring lion on it—after watching for a moment, Lily realized the lion not only roared, but tossed his mane and reared on his hind paws.

"Isn't that a really hard spell?" asked the fifth year. Remus nodded.

"He's been practicing all summer just so Flitwick would give him extra credit."

"Has anyone else mastered the spell?" asked a fourth year.

Remus shook his head, and he had a slight look of pride on his face. "Prongs is the only one in our year."

Lily turned back forward, staring at the half-eaten pasty in her hands. Potter was the one giving her the lily drawings. Potter had learned that spell to impress her. She had to admit, it worked. She glanced sideways at Potter, who was joking with Sirius and making colorful sparks come from his wand.

"Lily, are you alright?" asked Mary. She leaned in and spoke quietly.

"Remember those drawings I told you about?" Lily whispered. Mary nodded, and Lily sighed. "I found out who was giving them to me," she glanced at James again.

Mary gasped. "But do you know for sure?"

Lily nodded slowly, and Mary simply grinned slyly before turning back to Emmeline and their previous conversation. Lily sat quietly for a while, considering the dark haired boy next to her. She hadn't realized how long she stayed silent until Potter turned to her and said,

"Alright, Evans?"

Lily glanced at him in surprise, and was a little moved to see slight concern in his hazel eyes. For a moment she forgot what she'd been thinking about.

"You look kind of dazed," said Sirius, leaning forward to get a better look at her. "Perhaps you should go to bed,"

Lily blinked and nodded, hurrying up to her four-poster bed before she could do or say anything stupid. How could she have lost her train of thought like that? She wondered crossly to herself. She laid in her bed, thinking long and hard about her current situation.

It wasn't until after the party in the common room had ended and everyone was in bed that Lily took out her shoe box and went to sit by the fire in the most comfortable arm chair. Trouble is, there was already someone there.

"Potter!" Lily gasped when she'd almost sat on him. He chuckled.

"Didn't quite have enough earlier?" he joked.

Lily sat in the chair next to him, but said nothing. Instead she stared at the lid of the shoe box in her lap, feeling a blush creep to her cheeks for having it with her.

"What have you got there, Evans?"

"Nothing, really," Lily said hurriedly.

"So… You've got a shoebox of nothing," James said. "And you've decided to sit with it by the fire?"

"Exactly," Lily's face was very red now, and she was glad of the golden half-light cast by the fire. She didn't notice herself doing it, but both her hands were holding the lid of the box securely on.

James shrugged, amused, and turned back to the book in his lap. Lily glanced at it and gasped.

"_The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_?" she laughed. "You never read Muggle books."

"Actually I find them interesting," said James. "I like how Muggles perceive magic, and all the different kinds they can invent." He didn't look up from his book while he spoke, and Lily took the chance to study him for a moment—only to pretend she hadn't when he raised his eyes.

"What are you thinking about, Evans?" he asked after a moment.

The question caught Lily off guard, and at first she had no answer. Finally she sputtered out,

"I know what you're doing," Lily said, her tone bordering accusatory.

James chuckled. "What, reading a book?"

"Not that," Lily stared at the lid of her box. "Well, partly—you're reading a Muggle book to impress me."

"That hardly seems notable," James said airily. "But I think you're on to something. Is there anything else I've done that you would like to accuse me of?" Lily did not miss the way he glanced pointedly at her shoe box.

Lily kept a stony silence, waiting for the heat in her face to leave. Merlin, she couldn't ever remember blushing this much, especially in front—or _because—_of James. He began talking again, and his tone _really_ caught Lily off guard.

"Lily, what's in the box?"

She had a million and a half things to say, all at once. Trouble is, when you've got that many thoughts swirling through your head, it becomes very hard to pick just one to say. Instead, Lily just decided to show him. Biting the corner of her lip, she carefully lifted the lid off and set the box on the floor where James could clearly see each and every moving drawing.

He was quiet for a very long time, the only sound being the crackling of the fire or the occasional snore from upstairs.

"You kept them," he said quietly.

"All of them," Lily affirmed. She was sitting sideways on her chair, her back to him.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I heard Remus talking about it to that fifth year," said Lily. "They were talking about one of the posters you'd made."

Lily heard James close his book, and the chair creaked a little as he shifted his weight. Lily glanced behind her and was startled to see James kneeling right behind her, his arms crossed on the arm of her chair. He considered her with those hazel eyes of his.

"And what do you think of them?" he asked seriously.

Lily didn't break eye contact with James—she had the faintest suspicion that he wasn't talking directly about the box full of drawings. She tried to swallow and failed before answering his question.

"I like them very much," she answered truthfully.

James half smiled, and another long moment was passed in silence. Not once did James take his eyes off her.

"What?" Lily asked.

"I'll never really get over how beautiful you are," he said.

She didn't realize just how close his face was to hers until they were little more than an inch apart. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyelids fluttered shut just as James' lips touched hers. She was glad that she was sitting down, because otherwise she would have fallen over. It only lasted about a moment, but to Lily it felt like much longer than that.

James rested his forehead against Lily's, both of them keeping their eyes closed. He reached up and touched the corner of her chin.

"You've no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he breathed with a grin.


End file.
